Sexually violent predator moves out of Hesperia

Tuesday

Apr 24, 2012 at 7:11 AMApr 24, 2012 at 2:38 PM

From Staff Reports

HESPERIA • A man designated as a violent sex offender who had moved into a Hesperia home last week moved out and will be settling into the city of Muscoy, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Hesperia station officials said Tuesday.

Martin Kenneth Smith, 47, had moved into a home in the 16200 block of Chestnut Street last week. Sheriff's authorities informed residents in the surrounding neighborhood about Smith due to his classification as a sexually violent predator by the California Department of Justice. That designation is reserved for less than 1 percent of the 123,821 registered sex offenders, sheriff's officials said.

According to Sue Rose, spokeswoman for the Hesperia station, Smith's residence and status are subject to full disclosure pursuant to current state law.

In 1994, Smith was convicted in San Diego County of multiple counts of lewd or lascivious acts on a child under the age of 14. He was sentenced to a 10-year prison sentence but was released after only five, officials said.

After violating the terms of his parole, Smith was committed in 2006 to Coalinga State Hospital, a mental health institution which was recently fined for not keeping its workers safe specifically in the psychiatric facility, which mainly treats sex offenders. He was recently released from civil commitment without any supervision or electronic monitoring, officials said.

According to authorities, civil commitments are for two years. Officials have to petition every two years to keep them at the institution. It's unclear why it was determined Smith was ready for release.

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